Tom Holland: Still Wrong About Christianity

Historian Tom Holland has made a public confession that when it comes to his morals and ethics he is “thoroughly and proudly Christian”. (Tom Holland is a very talented writer and historian whose study of the rise of the Arab empire and birth of Islam I have discussed here. I was also fascinated by another … Continue reading “Tom Holland: Still Wrong About Christianity”


A Well Known Historian Praises Bart Ehrman’s History of Christianity’s Triumph

I have enjoyed and learned from two historical tomes by the popular historian Tom Holland: In the Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire and Millennium: The End of the World and the Forging of Christendom. Holland knows how to garnish historical detail and interpretation with … Continue reading “A Well Known Historian Praises Bart Ehrman’s History of Christianity’s Triumph”


Islam’s Origins, the Historical Problem — notes on the reading Tom Holland’s “In the Shadow of the Sword”

A few weeks ago I posted Islam – the Untold Story as a response to my introduction (through a radio program and an online video) to narrative historian Tom Holland’s controversial book on the rise of the Arab empire and the origins of Islam. I was interested in some of the comments expressing Muslim viewpoints … Continue reading “Islam’s Origins, the Historical Problem — notes on the reading Tom Holland’s “In the Shadow of the Sword””


BRUNO BAUER: Christ and the Caesars – Contents and Preface

Christ and the Caesars The Origin of Christianity from Greco-Roman Civilization by Bruno Bauer Berlin, 1877. Printed and published by Eugen Grosser.”   Machine translated by Neil Godfrey from Christus und die Caesaren. Der Ursprung des Christenthums aus dem römischen Griechenthum March 2023   Contents Preface on the previous views of our subject. I. Seneca’s … Continue reading “BRUNO BAUER: Christ and the Caesars – Contents and Preface”


Well, I Sure Got That Wrong

I thought Tom Holland was a historian. I am talking about the author of In the Shadow of the Sword, a history of the seventh century Arab conquests and emergence of Islam which I posted about three times in 2013. I had read the book after a fascinating interview with Holland on Australia’s Radio National’s … Continue reading “Well, I Sure Got That Wrong”


Evolution and missing links; fundamentalist discovers the real world; Muhammad; Detering and Trump

From Rosa Rubicondior Three-toed Skink Is an Evolutionary Intermediate Which came first the lizard or the egg? – The University of Sydney Today from the the reptile world, we have a very nice example of evolution in progress, or at least in a state of dynamic equilibrium between two characteristics, each of which could be … Continue reading “Evolution and missing links; fundamentalist discovers the real world; Muhammad; Detering and Trump”


Is this really true?

Tom Holland is currently preparing a new book in which he fleshes out what he says in this video. Is Paul really like a “depth charge” in history, ultimately responsible for ripples that brought about the Enlightenment itself? If one says that one’s inheritance is Christian what do we mean by Christian? Has not Christianity … Continue reading “Is this really true?”


The End of “The Islamic State” . . . and information links for informed discussion

And so it ends in Mosul, Iraq . . . . Mosul’s bloodbath: ‘We killed everyone – IS, men, women, children’ Meanwhile — as if one can slip from the contents of the above article with a helpless sigh — Tom Holland, a historian whose books I’ve much enjoyed — “Unlike most historians, Tom Holland … Continue reading “The End of “The Islamic State” . . . and information links for informed discussion”


De-Sacralizing Jesus

Recently we looked at Tom Holland’s interest in “de-radicalising Muhammad” and today part one of an online interview with Hector Avalos has appeared in which he discusses his new book The Bad Jesus in which he exposes the “low-down” on Jesus. Just as Holland argues for the importance of promoting an understanding of what can and … Continue reading “De-Sacralizing Jesus”


De-Radicalising Muhammad

“What do the Charlie Hebdo murders and the rise of the Islamic State owe to Islam? It would be comforting to insist, as many have done, that they owe nothing at all; but Holland, in the inaugural Christopher Hitchens Lecture, argues that the truth is more complex. The best way to combat jihadism, he proposes, … Continue reading “De-Radicalising Muhammad”


De-Radicalising Muhammad

“What do the Charlie Hebdo murders and the rise of the Islamic State owe to Islam? It would be comforting to insist, as many have done, that they owe nothing at all; but Holland, in the inaugural Christopher Hitchens Lecture, argues that the truth is more complex. The best way to combat jihadism, he proposes, … Continue reading “De-Radicalising Muhammad”


Did Muhammad Exist? A revisionist look at Islam’s Origins

A criticism of the view that Muhammad did not exist Excerpts from an interview published in Spiegel Online International   Dispute among Islam Scholars: Did Muhammad Ever Really Live? SPIEGEL ONLINE: There is a group of prominent German Islamic scholars, who are becoming increasingly aggressive about questioning whether the existence of the Prophet is even historically accurate. The … Continue reading “Did Muhammad Exist? A revisionist look at Islam’s Origins”


The Politics of the Muslim Controversy

Salman Rushdie condemns ‘hate-filled rhetoric’ of Islamic fanaticism, The Telegraph: It’s hard not to conclude that this hate-filled religious rhetoric, pouring from the mouths of ruthless fanatics into the ears of angry young men, has become the most dangerous new weapon in the world today. If the rhetoric is the weapon then let’s find out why … Continue reading “The Politics of the Muslim Controversy”